Bloomberg Warns New Year's Revelers: 'No Booze. No Drugs. Period'

Later tonight, thousands of partiers will flock to Times Square in Manhattan, where Mayor Michael Bloomberg will be hosting a New Year’s Eve bash. Naturally, security for such an event is a concern, and asked about about the topic at a press conference earlier today, Mr. Bloomberg sternly warned the public to behave themselves.

“Well you can never assure 100 percent everything. I can tell you that on a night like this typically, and I expect it to include tonight, crime is way down…The days in the past when there was chaos have long since gone,” Mr. Bloomberg said before giving an ominous warning to partygoers planning to bring alcohol or drugs to the celebration.

“You come to Times Square, we will check backpacks. You cannot bring alcohol or drugs. Don’t try to do it. You’re not going to get away with it,” said the mayor.

Mayor Bloomberg went on to predict good behavior in Times Square while touting the large police presence that will be on scene.

“People will be behaving. There will be an enormous number of police officers, including most of our new class of 1,200 police officers that we swore in last week. There will be an awful lot of police there in plainclothes. That person standing next to you may very well be a cop,” Mayor Bloomberg said, before reiterating the ban on alcohol and illicit substances.

“We expect everybody to behave well, and they do every year. It’s exciting, it’s crowded. You stand there, you can jump up and down there and yell and scream; it’s kind of hard to do anything else,” said Mr. Bloomberg. “But no booze, no drugs. Period. End of story. And we will be checking.”